Car-fender.



C. B. ALBRBE.

GAR FENDER.

APPLIOATION FILED DEO. 7, 1908.

943,588. e Patnted Dec.14,1909.

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CHESTER B. ALBREE, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANA, .ASSIGNOR TO CHESTER B.

ALBREE IRON WORKS CDMPANY, OF OF PENNSYLVANIA.

PITTSBURG, FENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION CAR-FENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 7, 1908. Serial N o. 466,248.

To @ZZ who/m it may concern:

Be it known that l, CHESTER B. ALBREE, of Allegheny, Allegheny county,Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Car-Fenders,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecilication, in which- Figure 1 is a side view showing one form of myinvention applied to a railway car; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;Fig. 3 is a side view showing the fender in its folded position; Fig. 4is an end View and Figs. 5 and 6 are side views showing a modied form ofthe invention in two di'erent positions.

My invention has relation to the class of car fenders and is designed toprovide a fender which will operate to pick up any person or objectstruck by the fender no matter what may be the position of the object,viz: either standing or horizontal on the track. Heretofore fenders havebeen proposed and used which would satisfactorily pick up the objectstruck, provided said object was in a standing position; but if theobject was in a horizontal position upon the track, said fenders couldnot be depended upon to pick up such object, as in many cases they wouldsimply pass over it. The present invention is particularly designed toprovide a fender in which it is impossible for the fender to ride overthe object struck, 'but in which the impact of the fender against theobject will automatically lower the fender into a positionin which itmust necessarily pick up the object.

lThe nature of my invention will be best understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings in which I have shown two preferred embodimentsthereof and it will now be described, it being premised, however, thatvarious changes may be made in the detailsk of construction andarrangement of the parts, without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Referring iirst to the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, the numeral2 designates the front platform of the car which is provided at eachside with a bracket or attachment iron 3 of any suitable character orconstruction. 4 designates the fender frame comprising front and sidebars, the latter being slightly upturned at their rear ends andpivotally connected to angle levers 5 whose upper ends are pivoted at 6in the brackets or attachment irons 3. 7 designates braces which arepivotally connected at their upper ends to the brackets or attachmentangle irons 3 and at their lower ends are pivotally connected to theintermediate portions of the side bars of the frame of the fender 4. Theconnections between the upper end of the braces 7 and the pivot pins 6are preferably made by open hooks 8 at the upper end of the braces whichhook over the ends of the pivots 6. 9 designates any suitable apronconstituting the upper inclined portion of the fender basket. Theforward bar of the fender 4 may be provided with any suitable bufter andthe bodyV of the fender may be constructed of any suitable lilling, suchas the wire netting 10. The arms of the angle levers 5 are connected bythe links 11 to which are preferably attached chains l2 or otheriieXible connections whose opposite ends are connected to the carplatform as indicated at 12a. The rearwardly projecting arms of theangle levers 5 are provided with counterweights 13 adjustably mountedthereon. These counterweights are suiiiciently heavy to normallycounterbalance the weight of the fender and hold it in substantially theposition indicated by full lines in Fig. 1. The chains or other flexibleconnections 12 prevent the fender from swinging forwardly and upwardlywhile at the saine time they permit it to swing backwardly anddownwardly. lVhen the front bar of the fender 4 strikes an object, theimpact of the blow will cause the entire fender to swing backwardly anddownwardly, about the centers of the pins or pivots 6 so that theforward end of the fender will come in contact with the track as shownin the lower dotted lines in Fig. 1. In this position the fender willnecessarily pick up the object struck, it being manifestly impossiblefor it to ride over such object. lVhen not in use, the fender may befolded up against the front end of the car in the manner shown in Fig.3. This is accomplished by disconnecting the hooks 8 from the pin 6 andturning the braces 7, together with the apron 9 forwardly and PatentedDec. 14, 19039.

upwardly into the position shown in Fig. 3.

1t will be seen that the counterweight acts The fender 4l can then beturned i i i l upon the fender in this folded position to tend to retainit in such position.

The fender shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is of the same general character asthat shown in the preceding figures, but is not adaptedto be foldedupwardly against the front end of the car. In this form of theinvention, the frame 1&1 of the fender is extended rearwardly andupwardly to form the side frame of the apron 15, the upper portions ofthese extensions being pivoted at 16 to the attachment irons or brackets3a. Counterweighted arms 17 are connected to the side bars of the fender111 at the points where they are bent upwardly and these arms areconnected with the pivot 16 by the links 18. It will be seen that theaction of this fender is precisely the same as that shown in Figs. 1 to4. That is to say, when the fender strikes an object, the impact causesit to move rearwardly and downwardly into contact with the track asshown in Fig. 6. 1f desired, means may also be provided to be operatedby the motorman for positively moving the fender into the position shownin Fig. 6. Said means may consist of a foot lever 19 attached to atransverse shaft 20 having depending arms 21 connected by the links 22with the chains 23 which connect the rear end of the arm 17 with the carplatform. The motorman by pressing his foot on the button of the lever19 rocks the shaft 2O and thereby depresses the fender to the positionshown in Fig. G. This attachment may also be provided for the form offender shown in Figs. 1 to et, if desired, but is ordinarily notnecessary, as the impact of the fender against the object struck issucient for the purpose.

The fender above described has been subjected to severe and competitivetests which have demonstrated its great efliciency in picking up theobject struck under varying conditions of speed and in differentpositions of the object.

vIt will be obvious that various changes can be made in the details ofconstruction and arrangement. Thus the frame meinbers of the fender canbe variously shaped and arranged, the manner of attachment to the carmay be changed, and the counterweight may be arranged in other ways soas to effectively balance the fender and support it in its normalposition.

I claim 1. A car fender pivotally attached to a car, depending rigidside braces, pivotally connected to the sides of the fender basket, acounterweight connected to the fender arto the fender and arranged tohold it in normal position; said fender and counterweight being free toswing rearwardly and downwardly, and means for preventing the fenderfrom swinging forwardly and upwardly from its normal position, theentire device being arranged to swing about a single pivoted axis;substantially as described.

3. A car fender pivotally attached to a car, depending rigid sidebraces, pivotally connected to the sides of the fender basket, saidbraces being arranged to allow folding up of the basket, a counterweightconnected to the fender and arranged to hold it in normal position, saidfender and counterweight being' free to swing rearwardly and downwardly,and means for preventing the fender from swinging forwardly and upwardlyfrom its normal position, the entire device being arranged to swingabout a single pivoted axis, said counterweight being also arrangedtoact to retain the fender in its folded-up position; substantially asdescribed.

1. A car fender having fixed pivotal nonsliding connection to a car, anupwardly extending apron separably attached to the fender, and acounterweight device for normally holding the fender and apron in anormal position, said fender and apron being free to swing rearwardlyand downwardly on its pivots when striking an object; substantially asdescribed.

5. A car fender'having fixed pivotal nonsliding connection to a car, anupwardly extending apron separably attached to the fender, and acounterweight device for normally holding the fender and apron in anormal position, said fender and apron being free to swing rearwardlyand downwardly on its pivots when striking an object, and havingpositive means for preventing oscillation of the fender and apronupwardly and forwardly from such normal position; substantially asdescribed.

6. Acar fender pivotally attached to a car, depending rigid side braces,pivotally connected to the sides of the fender basket, a counterweightconnected to the fender arranged to hold it in normal position, saidfender and counterweight being free to swing 943,588 rearwardly anddownwardly, means for preventing,` the fender from swinging upwardly andforwardly from its normal positlon,

rotated independently of striking an object; substantialy as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set the entire device beingarranged to swingmy hand.

about a single pivotal axis, and a device CHESTER B. ALBREE. connectedto the counterweight and arlVitnesses:

ranged to be operated at will whereby the M. V. KIEHL,

fender may be downwardly and backwardly l H. M. CoRwIN.

